Sydney: Australia’s best young footballers are being brought together in Sydney over the next week with new Joeys head coach Trevor Morgan to prepare for the 2018 AFC U-16 Championship in Malaysia.

From today (Friday), 28 of Australia’s brightest young footballers will gather at the Sydney Academy of Sport at Narrabeen to impress Morgan and his staff throughout what will be the first of two camps held in Australia prior to the tournament proper in September and October this year.

The 28 players selected by Morgan arrive in camp after an extensive period of scouting. During April and May this year, Morgan, alongside Joeys Team Manager, Marty Judge, ventured around Australia and conducted ‘Joeys Talent ID Camps’ in conjunction with Member Federations. Each ‘Joeys Talent ID Camp’ featured between 25 and 30 talented players identified by the host Member Federation.

20 players are aligned with Hyundai A-League club academies. A further six players feature at National Premier Leagues (NPL) level across Australia, while two players – Aydan Hammond and Emmanuel Pavlis – are contracted to clubs in Europe.

Australia qualified for the AFC U-16 Championship Malaysia 2018 after topping Group I of the Qualifiers in Mongolia last September. The Joeys finished ahead of Vietnam, Cambodia and Mongolia in Ulaanbaatar.

In April the Joeys were drawn in a challenging Group D for Malaysia 2018. Australia will need to finish first or second in a group containing defending champions Iraq, Korea Republic, and Afghanistan, to advance to the knockout phase of the competition.

To qualify as one of Asia’s representatives for the 2019 FIFA U17 World Cup in Peru (October 2019) Australia must reach the semi-final stage, as the top four teams in the tournament will represent Asia at the world's stage.

“I am excited by the opportunity and honoured by the responsibility that goes with this role,” Morgan said regarding his appointment to the Joeys post.

“The work will be about unearthing and nurturing talent to build quality and depth in our junior National Teams.”

“We will go to Malaysia with a purpose, to progress to the 2019 FIFA U17 World Cup. As a team we want to face the challenge head on, playing our football against the best teams from around the globe, and we can only do this by making it to Peru.”

Football Federation Australia’s (FFA) Head of National Performance, Luke Casserly, said Morgan’s appointment was well deserved.

“Trevor has been coaching in Australia for over 20 years and with this group specifically for the past 12 months,” said Casserly.?

“He is the logical appointment for the role and benefited greatly from a recent professional development opportunity with the Socceroos ahead of the 2018 FIFA World Cup. We know Trevor will do an excellent job with this group of players.”